Reign of Fire

Reign of Fire is a vastly underrated movie that really never garnered much attention. Sure, it was cheesy and low budget, but the indomitable Rob Bowman didn't pull any punches in this futuristic drama about dragons. Giving a scientific edge to a creature based in fantasy, this film proved to be a rather refreshing step in science fiction, which means it won't be a well received one. Even if this film barely makes its money back, at least it leaves the door open for other fantastic ideas in the science fiction genre. Of course with a film like this it makes me laugh when people are so critical of the plot holes such as where they get this never ending fuel and such. All I have to say to those that are critical is it is a movie and it is meant to entertain, not to mention the fact that the whole movie centers around dragons. To see this movie it is important that you go into it wanting to escape reality and realize that it is meant to just simply entertain the audience.

Bale and McConaughey play their roles perfectly. Both of them show that they are able to carry films and prove so in the future. Their bipolar dynamic was especially excellent, creating tension not just in beliefs but also in culture and devotion to country.Bale plays the reluctant leader of a community who sees his sole purpose as to protect the members of the community. Having witnessed his mother's death he plays everything safe, only to finally take risks once he was finally backed into a last corner. a foil to McConaughey's American macho militarist icon. McConaughey, whose finely chiseled face can be seen staring in mirrors in `Thirteen Conversations About One Thing,' is having a lark playing a brute here, but in the moments when he isn't shouting, he gives Van Zan almost as much conviction as Bale gives Quinn.

The dragons themselves make the least interesting contribution to the film and except for the final confrontation which almost "gets there" they are really secondary to the film itself. If you were to actually record the amount of dragon "screen time" I doubt it would be 18 minutes....and most of them are not far off laughable. While the special effects were only so-so they could have given us stronger scenes with the dragons to help us understand the terror they have wreaked. Because unfortunately, we see the dragons get released, and then it goes to the world basically destroyed. I would have loved to see a little more back story into the destruction and the rise to all the dragons. . Curiously, that aspect alone should have wrecked it for me...but it didn't - I found the "wasteland asharamas" totally credible and involving.

While this is far from the best sci-fi and won't be talked in the same realms as some of the other sci-fi classics, Reign of Fire is very serviceable. It is always interesting to go back and see movie that may have been overlooked and see how some of the characters have become Hollywood heavy hitters. Bale gave a strong performance and this is definitely a movie that one can enjoy from time to time. I am giving Reign of Fire three buckets of popcorn out of five. While this is not a must have movie, it is one that I would make time to see.

-The Movie Man-